Qin Liu: Using Business to Give Back to Basic Science Is Deeply Meaningful | 5Y View
Science is the key to the future.
On October 17, the 2023 Future Science Prize Award Ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Palace Museum. Qin Liu, founding partner of 5Y Capital, delivered a speech in his capacity as 2023 rotating chairman of the Future Science Prize Donors Assembly and 2023 rotating chairman of the Future Forum Council.
In his remarks, Liu said: "Scientists, as the finest representatives of human curiosity and intellectual capacity, deserve greater attention and stronger support — this is the original purpose and significance of the Future Science Prize. This year's Prize recognized breakthroughs at the cutting edge of plant immunity, high-temperature superconductivity, and artificial intelligence. Among the laureates were both senior scientists and several young scientists who took the stage. The 2023 Future Science Prize was honored to witness scientists of different ages and generations making pioneering contributions to science with global impact."
Science is the key to the future, Liu noted: "Let us preserve this curiosity, imagination, and faith in science. Let us spread the love of science to more people, inspire more to join the scientific endeavor, and together advance human progress!"
The full text of Qin Liu's speech:
Hello everyone. I am Qin Liu, 2023 rotating chairman of the Future Science Prize Donors Assembly and 2023 rotating chairman of the Future Forum Council. Welcome to the Future Science Prize Award Ceremony. Today, at the Hong Kong Palace Museum, we are gathered with distinguished guests — nearly one hundred top scientists, leaders from across society and business, Future Science Prize donors, Future Forum council members, and partners and friends from all sectors — to witness the presentation of the 2023 Future Science Prize.
As someone born in mainland China in the 1970s, I grew up during an era of reverence for science. The phrase I heard most often as a child was "master math, physics, and chemistry, and you'll go far." Becoming a scientist was the highest career aspiration for my generation.
Though I did not have the fortune to become a scientist myself, I entered the field of venture capital in technology and innovation. Over the past two decades, my work has been to invest in disruptive technological innovation and help unproven startups achieve breakthroughs from zero to one. Early-stage venture capital cannot rely on financial models or business logic for precise analysis. It requires intense curiosity, imagination, and belief in a vision for innovation — to find and support entrepreneurs who are initially unappreciated, even wildly controversial.
When I examine the true source of disruptive innovation, I find that all commercial and productivity advances driven by disruptive technology trace back to breakthroughs in basic science. Scientists, free from commercial功利, are doing work that is more fundamental, more difficult, and more valuable. Before their research gains recognition, they must endure long periods of neglect and perseverance. Scientists, by temperament, need curiosity, imagination, and faith in their scientific vision even more. This has given me a profound resonance with and respect for scientists engaged in basic research.
Our venture capital work has always been guided by the value of achieving social progress through commercial innovation. I have also come to realize that scientific research cannot be measured by commercial returns, yet business benefits enormously from basic science. Giving back to basic science through business is profoundly meaningful. So when the Future Science Prize decided to establish an endowment fund in 2019, I was honored to become one of fourteen donors, contributing what modest strength I could to the cause of science.
At present, the entire world and all of humanity face a series of challenges. The recent COVID-19 pandemic reminded us that life science still holds many unknowns that can deliver unpredictable blows. Climate change is sounding an alarm, demanding that we build a sustainable green planet and protect our home. Large language model-based general artificial intelligence has shattered the Turing test with awe for ordinary people, while sparking more debate about the future roles of humans and AI. There are many more such issues — each urgent and far-reaching — and on every critical challenge facing humanity, basic science has never been absent. It plays a vital role, giving us more courage and hope to confront our shared challenges.
Scientists, as the finest representatives of human curiosity and intellectual capacity, deserve greater attention and stronger support — this is the original purpose and significance of the Future Science Prize. This year's Prize recognized breakthroughs at the cutting edge of high-temperature superconductivity, artificial intelligence, and plant immunity. Among the laureates were both senior scientists and several young scientists who took the stage. The 2023 Future Science Prize was honored to witness scientists of different ages and generations making pioneering contributions to science with global impact.
Ladies and gentlemen, science is the key to the future. Let us preserve this curiosity, imagination, and faith in science. Let us spread the love of science to more people, inspire more to join the scientific endeavor, and together advance human progress! Thank you!
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BEIJING · SHANGHAI · SHENZHEN · HONG KONG
